European leaders mark fall of Iron Curtain
Dom
inform Gorondi and his editors that Reagan broke the Iron Curtain and
breached the Berlin Wall?
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeZkkkae1AmBEuTFFlZNDWPjCJAD993AOR00
European leaders mark Iron Curtain fall in Hungary
By PABLO GORONDI – 4 days ago
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — European leaders marked the 20th anniversary
of the symbolic fall of the Iron Curtain, often described as the first
crack in the Berlin Wall and one of the key episodes leading to the
end of communism in Eastern Europe, in Budapest on Saturday.
The presidents of Germany, Austria, Finland, Slovenia and Switzerland,
as well as high-ranking officials from Poland, Britain and more than
20 other countries participated in a commemorative session at the
Hungarian parliament and a gala event at the Hungarian State Opera
House.
On June 27, 1989, the then-foreign ministers of Hungary, Gyula Horn,
and Austria, Alois Mock, cut through some barbed wire on the border
between the two countries, putting a symbolic end to a physical and
psychological boundary of which by then there was little left.
"Looking at the entire chain of events, we rightfully and deservingly
celebrate June 27 as the day in which the partitioning of Europe came
to an end," Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom said at the start of the
special session in parliament. "We have every reason to celebrate
together. The cut barbed wire fence was an immediate symbol that
helped the whole world understand what was happening here in the
center of Europe."
Hungary had begun to dismantle the Iron Curtain nearly two months
earlier, on May 2, 1989 — partly because border guards said it was in
such poor condition that even small animals were setting off false
alarms along the electrified fence.
With most of it already gone, officials had trouble finding even a
small section of the Iron Curtain for Horn and Mock's staged photo
opportunity with wire cutters.
"What happened at the end of June was a nice symbolic gesture ... but
the border continued to be strictly controlled," Swiss-Hungarian
journalist and historian Andreas Oplatka said on state radio.
Still, pictures of the event were published around the world and
inspired tens of thousands of East Germans to leave their country,
find temporary refuge in Hungary, Poland or Czechoslovakia and wait
for an opportunity to travel to West Germany.
By the end of the summer, thousands of East German "tourists" were
living in tents on the grounds of the West German embassy in Budapest
and in several other locations around the city, including church yards
and the site of a communist youth camp.
After allowing some of the "Ossies" to leave for West Germany via
Austria in August and then some more a few weeks later, Hungary
finally decided to let all East Germans out from Sept. 11, 1989.
Within two months, on Nov. 9, the Berlin Wall fell and Germany's
reunification was formalized in October 1990.
On Saturday, German President Horst Koehler thanked the Hungarians for
their solidarity with the East Germans and their contributions to
German unity.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the Hungarian people for
their bravery, attitude and support toward the East Germans," Koehler
said.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer drew parallels between the 1989
transition to democracy in Eastern Europe and the current protests in
Iran.
"1989 was a dramatic year but it had a peaceful outcome," Fischer
said. "No dictatorship, however solid it may seem, can ever feel truly
safe."
"These were events which can motivate people in Iran to feel that
their democratic opinions can be expressed," Fischer said, drawing
applause from hundreds of guests in the upper chamber of Hungary's
parliament on the banks of the Danube River.
Speaking at a Friday evening memorial on the border with Hungary,
Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger characterized the 1989
events as "the great triumph of the citizens of the former Eastern
Bloc states."
"Today, watchtowers and barbed wire are a part of the past. The 'peace
project Europe' has prevailed with much success," Spindelegger said.